Kingdom Hearts 4: Soul Chronicles
by Xavier Stephen
Summary: There are three elements that make life: heart, soul, and body. Memories of the Keyblade wars, deleted. Sora has to conquer one last foe to save the world from darkness. THIS STORY IS STILL IN PROGRESS
1. The Soulblade

Kingdom Hearts 4

**Soul Chronicles**

**Ch.1: The Soulblade**

Falling. Sora was falling faster and faster in the darkness. He didn't know where the bottom to this endless pit was, or if there even was a bottom at all; then he saw something: a circular stained glassed window with Oblivion and Oathkeeper on it. He thought he was going to break the glass and fall straight through it but, 3 inches before he hit the glass, he stopped abruptly. He floated there for a few seconds and then fell onto it. He got up and looked around-there was nothing but him and the stained glass window.

"Sora..." Sora looked around, but saw no one. "Sora...the keyblade..."

"Who are you? Where are you?" Sora shouted looking around again seeing no one.

"The keyblade has yet to become complete." Sora was bewildered.

"What do you mean?"

"The soul blade...is within your grasp." Sora had no clue what the voice was talking about.

"What?"

"Sora...Sora...Sora..."

"What do you mean?" Sora shouted. Then Riku appeared in front of him. "Riku, what are you doing here?" Riku said nothing; he just turned around and walked away. Suddenly, a great black oozing blob arose from out of nowhere, opened its mouth, and engulfed Riku. "Rikuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!"

Sora was awake and was sitting upright in his bed with nothing but the covers on. Riku was lying right next to him, also with nothing on, just looking at him. "Sora, are you okay?" Sora just stared at Riku.

"I...I had a strange dream. Something about the Soulblade and then this monster engulfed you, and I..." Sora started to cry and Riku pulled Sora into his arms.

"Its gonna be O.K. Sora. It was just a dream. I'll never be taken away from you." Riku held Sora in his arms for awhile and caressed his hair. Just then a large commotion was heard outside.

"What was that?" Asked Riku.

"I don't know Riku; we had better go check it out." Riku and Sora both got dressed, grabbed their weapons and some items, and then headed in the direction of the noise.

On their way there they ran into Aerith. "Sora! The town is being attacked by creatures, but they aren't heartless. They don't even resemble anything I've ever seen!"

"O.K. We're on our way now."

"Good luck to the both of you!" They started off again and ran as fast as they could to the 1st district. A few minutes later they reached the 1st district gates and opened them. When they finally saw what was going on they were amazed-there were creatures black as night attacking Leon and the others, but looked nothing like heartless. They looked more like cloaked phantoms.

Squall and Yuffie were already down there trying to ward them off. Sora and Riku jumped down there and joined in.

" 'Bout time you got here Sora! Were you and Riku that into it that you couldn't here this racket?"

"Shut up Squall! Less talk and more fighting." One of the phantoms came up behind Sora, but Riku came and beat it back. Sora looked behind him and thanked Riku.

"Thanks Riku."

"No problem Sora." Sora then slashed one of the phantoms with the Keyblade, but it just went straight through them. "What?" Sora kept slashing and slashing but it just kept going straight through the phantom. "O.K. fine then take this! THUNDAGA!" Lightning bolts flew from the sky and hit the phantom. It just stumbled a bit then straightened itself. "O.K. Well then take this, FIRAGA! "The spell hit the phantom but it just stumbled and straightened itself again. The same thing happened with all the spells Sora tried on the phantom

"Sora what's wrong?"

"I can't hit it with the Keyblade! It's as if they're immune or something, and my magic attacks do nothing."

Sora kept on hitting them with his magic but they wouldn't die. Sora was running out of magical power and the phantoms still weren't beat back. "What am I going to do?" Just then, a light appeared out of no where and hit the ground. A figure appeared, and it was Yuna. She summoned Ifrit and it pushed back all of the phantoms out of the 1st district.

"Thanks Yuna that was some impressive work there."

"Don't mention it Squall; now, where is the one called Sora?"

"I'm right here." Sora said before Yuna walked over to Sora and looked at him. She then glanced at him.

"The Keyblade sure does work in mysterious ways, but there is still untapped power inside."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"You know that there are different keychains that transform the Keyblade into different forms, correct?"

"Yes I know that."

"Well, there is one final keychain that will unlock the final form of the Keyblade. It is called the Soul Keychain."

"Oh, so where can I find this Soul keychain?" Yuna didn't answer. She instead raised her staff, then danced and chanted while moving her arms and the staff around gracefully. After a few minutes a bright golden light appeared before Sora. The light started to diminish and a clear Keychain in the shape of a star appeared. It drifted towards the Keyblade and then fused with it. The Keyblade shined brightly and then its transformation began. First the hand guard turned a clear color, the handle and the blade turned a silver color and the hand guard then changed into a six pointed star shape.

Sora felt the awesome power of the newly formed blade course through his veins.

"The power that you feel coursing through your body; that is the power of the Soulblade."

"Soulblade?"

"Yes, the Soulblade has the power to defeat the soulless and restore order to the worlds. The soulless are after your soul Sora, just like the heartless were after your heart. Be alert Sora, a great evil has arisen in Hollow Bastion. I can feel it."

"What?! Is it Maleficent?"

"I can't be sure, but Maleficent should be dead, along with the rest of her evil comrades."

"Oh, well thanks again Yuna. I don't know how to repay you."

"No needs to thank me, young one, just destroy the evil."

"O.K."

"So Sora..." But Riku was cut off by a shrill shriek. "That sounded like Aerith! Riku lets go!" Sora and Riku ran through the second district but were stopped by some soulless shortly after. "Ready Riku?" asked Sora. "Ready." Riku replied. Sora charged at one of the soulless and slashed it repeatedly. After a few hits it imploded and was no more. Riku was having a bit of trouble so Sora used thundaga and they were instantly destroyed. They started off again and were ambushed by soulless a couple times-but Sora took care of them.

After a couple minutes they finally reached the third district. When they entered they didn't hear or see anyone around. "Where's Aerith?" asked Sora. "I don't know Sora, but I don't like this. It's too quiet." Sora and Riku walked closer to the fountain. Then when they were just a few feet from it they heard a noise behind them and turned around. The doors to the 2nd district were blocked by a barrier! They started to look around to see if anyone was there. Then a voice came behind Riku and said, "Time to release your soul darling." Riku turned around and stepped back. There he saw Aerith, but she was deformed. Her face was misshapen, her hair grey and tangled, and her clothes all black. But her eyes...they were pure black! "What in the hell happened to her?" "I don't know Sora, but we can't attack her, we have to figure out something to do." "GIVE ME YOUR SOULS!!!!!!!!!" Aerith shot two dark energy balls at Sora and Riku. They both dodged and landed away from each other. Then a dark aura started to appear around Aerith and she started bombarding them with dark energy balls, one after another. Sora and Riku were quick in dodging them. She kept going and going, never stopping, never tiring.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this Sora."

"Neither do I Riku. We have no choice but to attack her and wear her down."

"But, Sora she's our friend! Plus she's a lady."

"I know Riku, but still, she's not in her right state of mind right now, and we need to wear her down so we can figure out what happened to her."

"But..."

"Riku! Do you want to save her or not?"

"I do, but it just feels wrong, and why are you so keen on doing this?"

"Riku this is no time to argue, I don't want to do this anymore than you, but it has to be done in order to save Aerith. Whether or not you like it I'm sticking with my plan." Sora then lunged at Aerith and struck her with the Soul blade. She fell over and Sora tried pointing the Soul blade at her to see if it would return her soul to her, nothing happened. Then Aerith sat up and shot a dark energy ball from her hand, but it wasn't aimed at Sora. Riku was too in shock from seeing Sora strike Aerith to notice it. "RIKUUU!!!!!!!! LOOK OUT!" Riku snapped out of the shock just in time to notice the dark energy ball and dodge it.

"Sora, please, there has to be another way." Sora turned to look at Riku

"I can't think of any other way. I've already thought of everything I could. Unless you can think of something better, I'm sticking with what I have."

"INFIDELS, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE SOULESS! NOW FEEL MY POWER!!!!!!!" Sora then turned back around to see that Aerith had gotten up, she had her arms raised and her head was looking up. Sora looked up and saw a giant meteor in the sky. "What the..." It was Meteor, Sephiroth's ultimate attack. "How the hell can she do that? She would need the black materia!" Sora didn't know what to do. How would he manage to block meteor? He thought and thought. The attack was getting closer; they had no escape out of the third district. Meteor would take Aerith and everyone in Traverse Town with it.

Aerith sent a barrage of dark energy balls at the two; she wasn't going to wait for meteor to hit. "YOUR SOULS WILL BE MINE!!!!!!!! Even if you manage to block my dark meteor's power, all of your friend's souls will be taken. So just give up, and save yourselves the effort." She then launched another barrage of dark energy balls at Sora. Sora easily dodged all of them and faced Aerith.

"Aerith, why are you doing this? Please remember us, we're your friends."

"Soulless have no friends, they only have loyalty to their master. You shall soon be..." But she was cut off by a loud explosion.

Sora turned around to see that a hole had been made in the wall near the door. Sora squinted to see who had made it. Three people started to step through it. It was Squall, Yuffie, and Yuna! Squall looked down at Sora.

"Hey kid what the hell is going on?" Sora pointed up and Squall looked up.

"Oh my fucking God...How the hell can that be?" Yuna and Yuffie both looked up as well and gasped.

"Don't panic; hopefully I can harness the power of the lifestream. Here goes." Yuna chanted and waved her staff in a circular motion at the ground. Green wispy energy started to emerge from the ground. It started to rise and head towards meteor. More and more came from the ground and all across Traverse Town. The lifestream finally hit meteor and stopped it dead in its tracks. Then it slowly started to fade away until it was finally gone, and the lifestream returned to its rightful place.

"Thanks Yuna, I don't know how we would have survived that without you."

"No problem so..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Aerith screamed in enragement and started throwing dark energy balls everywhere. Yuna chanted something and put a barrier around everyone. Aerith then started shooting dark lighting from her hand at everyone. Once it touched the barrier, the barrier held out-for a few seconds, then exploded along with Aerith's attack.

"Sora, you must strike her with the Soul blade. Once weakened Aerith's soul can be returned to her."

"O.K. Yuna, you got it." Sora once again lunged at Aerith dodging her barrage of dark energy balls. He struck her multiple times. With his last strike he sent her flying into the wall. She then outstretched her arm and was about to unleash her attack on Sora when the Soul blade shone brightly and sent a beam of light at Aerith. But before it hit her she put up a barrier and blocked it.

Aerith rose to her feet and spoke, but it wasn't her voice; it was a dark and evil voice that filled Sora's heart with terror. "Fine, if you won't give up I'll take what's most precious to you Sora!" Aerith outstretched her arm and black ooze started to come out of it. The ooze got bigger and bigger, until it was about half the size of a Bahamut. Then it opened its mouth and headed towards Riku. Riku stood there, poised to fight. Yuna tried as fast as she could to chant a spell. Squall continuously attacked it with his gunblade and Yuffie attacked it as well, but it was no use. The creature just kept going. Sora then lunged at it but Aerith stopped him by shooting a barrage of energy balls. When the ooze monster finally got close enough Riku lunged at it and struck it with his blade, but it had no effect. Riku stood there, in shock. The monster moved its mouth towards Riku and engulfed him entirely.

"RIKUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aerith had stopped her barrage long enough for Sora to be able to watch in horror as his beloved was engulfed by the monster. Then the monster was sucked back into Aerith's hand. Sora was enraged. He didn't care if Aerith was his friend or not, he was too angry to care. He lunged at Aerith and struck her repeatedly. When she got back up, Sora lashed at her again and again until Aerith fell down and just lied there. The Soulblade then shined brightly again. Sora pointed it at Aerith and the beam of light hit her this time, but it was too late. Aerith was fading fast. Sora, realizing what he had done, went to her side and wept. "I-I-I'm so sorry, Aerith. I can never forgive myself for what I did." Aerith looked up at Sora wearily and then she closed her eyes, and her body went limp. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sora pulled Aerith close and sobbed. "I'M HORRIBLE! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!!!!!!??????? I'm not worthy of the Keyblade, Soul blade, or any other blade." Sora then tossed the Soul blade as hard as he could, and continued weeping for Aerith.

Yuna walked over to Sora and kneeled next to him.

"Sora..." But Sora interrupted her.

"No...don't say that it's not my fault, because it is. It's my fault that I got pissed and killed her. All my fault..." Yuna sighed and stared at the ground. "Sora..." Squall then came next to Sora and grabbed him by the collar.

"HOW COULD YOU BASTARD!" Squall then swung at Sora and sent him flying.

"Squall, No!" Yuna stood up and stood in front of Sora and extended her arms.

"Get out of my way Yuna. He killed Aerith."

"I know what he did Squall, but Aerith's soul was out of her body for longer than her body could handle; even if Sora didn't go all out on her, she would have died anyways when her soul was returned to her." Squall clenched his fist and tears started to fall down his face.

"God Damn, we...we were too late to save her. I'm sorry Sora." Sora just sat there, not saying a word. Squall and Yuna stared at him.

All was quiet for a few minutes until Sora spoke. "I don't want to hold all of this responsibility on my shoulder anymore. I don't want to be the wielder of the Keyblade." Yuna and Squall just stared at him for a few seconds then Squall grabbed his collar so that Sora's head was level with his. "You listen here kid. You are the only one capable of stopping this threat. Time and time again you have saved us all. All of the worlds are probably being devastated with this menace, and they need your help. Plus Riku is gone. I know how devastated you are but you need to get up and fight. To help save all the worlds, and Riku." Sora just stared at the ground for a few seconds then he looked up at Squall. Tears were streaming down his face. "O.K. Squall, you can let me go now." Squall put Sora down and Sora ran to the Soul blade, picked it up and ran.

"He's gonna need a gummi."

"Well do you have any means of contacting the king Squall?"

"Sure do." Squall then set off for his room in the 2nd district hotel. Sora was about to embark on his greatest journey yet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile back at Disney Castle Donald was on his way, as usual, to the Kings throne room. Donald approached the door, knocked and then went in. He was expecting to see the King on his thrown, but instead saw a weeping Queen with a note lying in front of her. Donald walked up to her and started to speak but he was interrupted by the Queens words. "H-h-he's gone!" Donald picked up the note and read it. It said:

"Dear Donald or Goofy, A threat to my Kingdom has arisen. I fear that Maleficent has somehow risen from the grave and is using things called the "soulless" to capture Sora's soul. She must be stopped at all costs so I am taking the liberty of finding the Summoner Yuna to get her to unlock the final form of the Keyblade. I don't know how long this will take me but say not a word to my beloved Minnie. This journey is dangerous and I may not return. Find Sora, stay with him, and protect him at all costs. Thank you and remember to not say a word to the Queen, I don't want her worrying about me. Signed, Mickey Mouse."

Donald read over the letter again and again to make sure that he wasn't reading wrong. How could Maleficent have come back from the grave? What is her plan now? The Queen was still crying so Donald thought that he would comfort her.

"Queen, please don't cry. Sora, Goofy, and I will find the King." The Queen looked at Donald.

"Please, bring him back safely. I beg of you!"

"Yes your highness, I will."

"Oh thank you Donald, thank you."

Donald headed off to find Goofy. When he finally found Goofy, Goofy was running around yelling Donald's name.

"Donald! Where are ya?!"

"Over here!" Goofy looked in Donald's direction and ran toward him.

"Donald, I got a message for ya. Ayuck"

"Well?" "It's from Leon, he wants us to come to Traverse town to pick up Sora so we can go fight the umm... what are they called...uhh..."

"Soulless?"

"Yea! Them things."

"Let's go to the gummi bay."

"Ayuck, Ok." So Goofy and Donald headed for the gummi bay. Once there they told Chip and Dale to ready the Gummi ship. In a matter of minutes it was operational and ready to go. Donald and Goofy jumped into the ship and prepared for launch. The bay doors opened and they were ready for take off. The Gummi's engines started up and then, the floor below them opened and they fell out the bottom bay door. Once outside they flew off into space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in Hollow Bastion, a dark shadow is seen looking at a crystal ball in the center of a dark room. "So, the boy now wields the Soulblade." The figure then steps into the light and a black robe is seen. Behind her the door opened and a dark figure stepped inside the room, looking as though they were holding something.

"Ah, Hades I see you have the lamp."

"Yeah, just as I promised." Hades then handed the lamp to Maleficent.

"Come on babe, I held up my end of the deal. I brought you the lamp and everyone that the brat killed."

"Patience Hades I must summon Jafar first."

Maleficent stepped outside and rubbed the lamp. Thick red smoke came out of the spout and got bigger and then took the shape of Jafar in his genie form.

"FINALLY! I have been released from the lamp."

"Yes you have Jafar, now you owe me three wishes." Jafar stared at Maleficent.

"Or you can go back into the lamp."

"NO! Fine I will grant you three wishes."

"Very good, now for my first wish..." Maleficent motioned for Jafar to come closer. Jafar leaned over and Maleficent whispered her first wish into his ear. "Your wish is granted." Jafar raised both of his hands and magic was sent out from the tips of his fingers to right in front of Maleficent. A box appeared with caution tape around it. Maleficent picked up the box and looked inside it. "Now for my second wish, I require the seven princesses of heart." Jafar once again raised his hands and made the 7 princesses of heart appear in front of Maleficent. Maleficent then raised her staff and they all disappeared.

"Very good. Now for my final wish, I wish for your soul."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me Jafar, without it you will be more powerful than ever."

"Never Maleficent, never."

"Very well." Maleficent raised her staff and dark green smoke swirled around Jafar. Then the smoke started to pull Jafar into the orb on top of Maleficent staff.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jafar struggled to get out of the smokes grasp but failed to do so. Jafar was finally absorbed into the orb. Maleficent felt Jafar's cosmic powers pulsing through her staff.

"See what happens to people who don't follow orders Hades?" Hades glared at Maleficent.

"What do you want Maleficent?"

"I want Hercules alive, and the child and his companions eliminated."

"Fine, fine, now how am I supposed to do all this?"

"With this." Maleficent waved her staff and a black spiked bone appeared in Maleficent's hand. She handed the bone to Hades . Hades took the bone and examined it.

"Feed it to Cerberus, but before that you must turn Hercules into a soulless."

"Fine babe, wish me luck." Hades then disappeared in a burst of blue flame.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few hours travel Donald and Goofy finally reached Traverse town. They stepped through the gates to the 1st district. Once through they saw Sora, Yuffie, Yuna, and Leon.

"Hey Sora!" Goofy and Donald yelled at Sora.

"Hey Donald, Hey Goofy."

"Come on, let's go!"

"Alright I'm coming." Sora started to walk toward them when Yuna stopped him.

"Sora, do you know where your going?"

"Yea, we're going straight to Hollow Bastion, to see if Maleficent is lurking around there in her usual place."

"Well, you're gonna need some help, I'm coming with you and so is Leon and Yuffie. Also we'll need to pick up Cloud and Tifa from the Arena world. O.K.?"

"Alright, the more the merrier."

"Good, let's go!"

"Hold on a minute, how are we all gonna fit in that one small Gummi ship?"

"Don't worry Donald; Leon has his own ship. We'll follow in that one."

"Oh, O.K. well lets go already!"

"O.K. cool it Donald we're going." Sora, Donald and Goofy got in their Gummi while Leon, Yuffie, and Yuna got in theirs. They then launched and were out in the depths of space.


	2. The Journey to Hollow Bastion

**Ch.2: The Journey to Hollow Bastion**

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the Arena Hades was putting Maleficent's plan into action. "Here you go you big slobbering guard dog." Hades then threw the spiked dog treat in the air and Cerberus ate it. A dark aura started to form around Cerberus and he got larger and larger, until he was twice his original size. "Now THAT'S what I call a protein bar. No you stay here until I say so, O.K.?" Cerberus barked in acknowledgement and layed down. Hades then went to hide so the three couldn't see him when they got there. From his perch Hades could see Hercules training with Cloud.

"You know what I hate more than that Maleficent, Pain and Panic?"

"No sir I do not." said Pain

"Umm...would it be Hercules and Cloud sir?"

"BINGO!!!!!! They are going down along with that little punk hero Sora."

"Very good sir." "Ummmmmmm, these Soulless thingies...will they like steal our souls?"

"No Panic, because why Pain?"

"Ummm. I would not know." Hades burst into red flames.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE IMMORTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How many times must I ..." But Hades was interrupted by the roaring of engines. He looked up into the sky and saw two Gummi ships approaching the Arena.

"Hmm. looks like the brat is here. Alright, Pain, Panic. When I tell you to, take the soulless and go down there and start a riot Capeish?"

"Umm...Capeish?"

"Good. Now start heading down there. O.K.?"

"Yes sir!" Responded Pain and Panic. They then led the soulless down to the arena so they could launch a surprise attack on Hercules

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora and his friends got off their Gummi ships and walked into the lobby. There they saw Phil getting ready for the games. "Hey kid, what are you doin' here?"

"We were here to get Cloud and Tifa, but it looks like the games are starting soon."

"Yeah, finally I've been Hades free for like, a couple months now. He just kept coming and attacking Herc like he had nothin better to do. But now it's peaceful and the games can finally start again."

"Cool, so how 'bout if we join in?"

"Sure kid, you've got the skills and the technique, you could probably even take on Herc-but you would still probably lose."

"Yeah, yeah, Maleficent is way tougher than Herc. Oh, that's right, I'm sorry Phil but we have to get Cloud and Tifa so we can go to Hollow Bastion to see what Maleficent is up to."

"Awwww, that's too bad. I was lookin' forward to a show from youse. Hey, how about one quick round for ol' times sake eh?" "Well..."

"Go ahead Sora, you need the training anyways." Leon interrupted.

Sora smiled at Leon, then turned back towards Phil.

"O.K. Leon. Alright Phil I'm in."

"O.K. ki..." Just then Cloud came running into the building.

"Its Hercules, something's wrong with him. These phantom things came attacking him and he couldn't hold them off. Hurry!" Sora and the others ran as fast as they could out into the stadium. Once outside they saw Hercules on a rampage. He was smashing everything in sight. Nothing would stop him. His skin was a sallow color, his hair grey, his hands and face misshapen.

"It's just like what happened to..."

"No time for talk kid, I've got seven woids for youse, Stop doddlin' and get in there!"

"O.K. Phil." "Don't beat him up too badly aight?"

"O.K. Phil." Sora charged at Hercules and then lunged and struck him with the Soulblade. Hercules was sent flying!

"Whoa kid you pack a punch!"

"Whoa...did I do that?"

"No Sora, it's the power of the Soulblade. Now you only have an hour to return Hercules' soul back to his body. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do Yuna."

"Stop chit chattin', he's gettin back up!"

Sora looked over at Hercules and he had just gotten back up and was charging after them. A dark aura seemed to be spreading all over him. Sora charged at Hercules again. When Herc was at just the right distance Sora jumped in the air and was about to hit him in the head when Hercules grabbed hold of the Soulblade and twirled Sora around. He went faster and faster. Then Hercules launched him into the sky, but Cloud was quick enough to see Sora's trajectory and caught him before he left the stadium. "Thanks Cloud, I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything. Now let's get back in there." Cloud then charged at Hercules with his sword and jumped just as Hercules was about to swing at him. Cloud ended up behind Hercules and hit him with the flat side of his sword. Hercules fell over and didn't get back up for a few seconds. "What? Herc tiring that easily? That's impossible!" A few seconds later Hercules got up and Sora lunged and struck him multiple times. Hercules was down again for a matter of seconds.

Hercules got up and, for a moment, Sora saw Aerith there and hesitated. That was a mistake, because Hercules got back up and started charging at Sora. Leon was fast enough to get him out of the way.

"Stay focused Sora."

"I'm sorry Leon...its just..."

"Stop talking and get in there!" Sora glared at Leon and then went to attack Hercules.

"Awww, why are they having all the fun while we stand here and do nothing? I want to join in."

"No Yuffie, this is for Sora and Cloud to do. Our weapons would only injure Hercules, and Yuna's magic wouldn't affect him because he has a natural immunity to magic. Besides she's too weak from summoning the life stream to help out." Yuffie stared at Leon and the responded.

"O.K." Yuffie then remembered that Donald and Goofy were here. She looked at them and they were just standing there.

"O.K. I can understand why Donald can't do anything but why are you just standing there Goofy?"

"We'll Ayuck, Yuna said not to go because Sora and Cloud could handle it on there own."

"Right..."

Just then Hercules went flying past them all. Sora and Cloud had just both hit his backside. They only had half an hour left before Hercules' death was imminent. Hercules took awhile to get back up, and when he finally did he charged at Sora and Cloud but slower. Sora jumped over Hercules and hit him with all he had on his side. Hercules was sent crashing into the stadium and he didn't get back up. The Soulblade shined brightly and sent a beam of light at Hercules and his soul was restored to him.

"Oh thank the Gods he's O.K. now, is he?"

"Yeah, he's back to normal Phil, and just in time." Cloud then walked over to Hercules and picked him up.

"I'll take him inside the Arena infirmary so he can recuperate."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Meanwhile back at Hades' perch...)"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????" Hades was infuriated at the fact that Hercules was still alive. "HOW CAN THIS BE!? IT WAS ALL PLANNED ALL...O.K. O.K. so plan A. didn't go as planned. However there is plan B. Go sick em' boy!" Cerberus ran as fast as he could down to the arena. "Yes, yes! This is it! Herc's and that brat's demise!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Arena Cloud had returned from the Arena infirmary.

"So are you ready to go Cloud?"

"Yea ready as I'll ev... What's that rumbling?" The ground was shaking heavily as if an earthquake were happening. Then they heard a bark. "...It's CERBERUS!!!!!!!!" Everyone looked behind them and there was Cerberus. He had become more enormous than he used to be.

"Whoa what happened to him?"

"No time for questions kid, two woids for ya, Attack!" Cloud was two steps ahead of Phil for he was already running towards the giant three headed dog. "Alright some action at last!" Exclaimed Yuffie took her Shuriken and threw it at Cerberus; unfortunately one of his heads caught it and threw it back. "Ewwww...Dog drool..." So Leon then jumped in the air and shot at it with his gunblade. Donald was attacking it with every spell that he had, and Goofy was attacking it from below. Sora jumped on the bleachers and then jumped at one of Cerberus' heads and struck the side of it with the Soulblade. A domino effect had occurred. That head hit the next head, which hit the last head. Cerberus growled in anger. He then lifted his heads up and then pointed them at the ground. A dark gaseous material was pouring out from them and hitting the ground. Then circles started appearing everywhere and sending up dark plasmatic shockwaves into the air. Yuna was just in time to put barriers around everyone. Then Cerberus sent a barrage of gigantic fire balls at all of them.

Donald shot a blizzaga spell at one of the heads and it froze the head solid. Cerberus was befuddled by this and tried to break its head free of the ice but couldn't. "Good thinking Donald!" Sora then aimed for one of the non frozen heads and used blizzaga on it as well. Cerberus was enraged at this. Finally after a few minutes of smashing the head that Donald froze, the ice fell off. However the head that Sora froze remained frozen no matter how hard Cerberus tried. Sora then jumped into the air and hit one of the unfrozen heads with the Soulblade. Cerberus opened its mouth and black ooze seeped out.

"Ewwww...what is that?"

"It looks like some type of ooze, like the one we saw before. But it doesn't seem to be forming anything, it's just like it was inside his system or something." Said Leon. Cloud then looked up.

"You're brilliant Leon." Cloud said.

"Huh?" Leon said, a bit confused. Cloud went under Cerberus and hit his belly as hard as he could with his sword. All three of Cerberus' heads bent over as though they were about to throw up, then the unfrozen heads opened their mouths and spewed out the same black ooze as before. Then as more and more ooze came out Cerberus got smaller and smaller. After a few minutes it stopped but Cerberus still wasn't normal sized just yet.

"Sora, I need you to hit Cerberus' belly as hard as you can O.K.?"

"Alright Cloud." Sora then ran to Cerberus' underbelly, but Cerberus had learned his lesson and sent Sora flying into the stadium with his paw. Leon was just in time to catch Sora before he hit the hard, rock stadium seats. Leon then flung Sora in the direction of Cerberus' underbelly. Donald, Goofy, Cloud, and Yuffie were keeping him busy while Sora was hurtling towards the underbelly. When he finally reached ground he poised to strike and then hit Cerberus' belly with all his might. Cerberus howled in pain as he bent over and started to spew out the black ooze rapidly. It was flowing out so fast that it broke the area of ice that was covering the third head of Cerberus and spewed it out from there as well. Cerberus got smaller and smaller until finally he reached his normal size. He coughed up the last bit of ooze, and was about to attack when he fell over from exhaustion.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What the...?" Hades squinted to see Leon fling Sora under Cerberus' belly. Then Sora struck his underbelly, Cerberus spewed out black ooze, returned to his normal size, and collapsed.

"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, what does a guy have to do around here to get the job done huh?"

"Do the job yourself."

"Wha?" Hades turned around to see Maleficent behind him.

"Oh, uh, hey babe-what're you doin' here?"

"Making sure that you don't fail like the last time. Now, go down there and fight them."

"Babe, look I don't do things on my own; I get other people to do it for me. Call me lazy. I quit! I can't stand it anymore." Maleficent glared at Hades.

"You had better get down there before I strip your pitiful self of your immortality. Believe me, you are nothing compared to my awesome might. Now get down there and destroy Sora and his friends." Hades burst into flames and then sent a barrage of fire balls towards Maleficent. A cloud of smoke appeared after and Hades then settled down.

"Now that that's taken care o..." But as the smoke cleared Maleficent's figure was still seen, but she looked different.

"Hades, I will show you what happens to those who do not follow orders." Maleficent raised her staff and giant thunderbolts came down from the sky and struck Hades.

"Oh yea big deal thunderbolts, not gonna hurt a god sweetheart. Now try this on for size." Hades conjured a large fire ball and threw it straight at Maleficent. She didn't flinch at all.

Maleficent aimed her staff at Hades and a beam of darkness came out of it and hit Hades extremely hard. Hades was then sent flying down the cliff. Maleficent looked over the edge and cackled.

"Come now Hades I know you can do better than that. Don't deprive me the pleasure of killing you slowly and painfully." Just then Hades grew to a gargantuan size.

"Oh I can do way better than that." Hades then slammed his palm on Maleficent.

"Ha, gotcha, you old bat." Just then Hades heard a cackle from behind him. He turned around and saw Maleficent there, in her dragon form. She spewed a green fireball out of her mouth and it hit Hades square in the chest. Hades retaliated with a barrage of dark fire sent at Maleficent, but she didn't budge. Maleficent then flew into the air and dove straight towards Hades. He tried to dodge but she was too fast for him. She pinned him down and was attempting to bite him. Hades was struggling to get her off. Then he finally got enraged enough and sent dark energy everywhere, sending Maleficent into the air. She righted herself and remained airborne.

"You can't win babe, I'm immortal. This fight could go on and on forever."

"Oh I highly doubt that Hades."

Hades noticed that Maleficent was slightly looking to the left behind him. Hades turned around but saw nothing. Then slowly the image of an old, nasty looking woman appeared. "What's this? Is this old grandma supposed to scare me or what?" Then the old woman revealed a black lamp. Hades backed away in terror. "No, no, no, no, not the lamp! Not the lamp!" Hades repeatedly threw fireballs at the woman but they seemed to just bounce right off her. Then she opened the lamp and it sucked Hades in. Maleficent then looked over at the old woman.

"Very good Madam Mimm. Your soul will be spared."

"Why thank you, your evilness. That's me. The mad mad mad mad mad madam Mimm!"

"Yes, yes. Now take Hades back to Hollow Bastion and put him in the chamber."

"Very well." Madam Mimm opened a portal and then stepped into it. Maleficent changed back to her humanoid form and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for savin' Herc. I owe ya' one."

"No problem Phil, anytime."

"So will you guys be comin' round here anytime soon?"

"Sorry Phil but we have a crisis on our hands right now and we can't be goofing around. I'm sorry but we must depart for Hallow Bastion now."

"Wait, where's Tifa, Cloud?"

"Tifa? She went to the Deep Jungle world to train there."

"Oh no..."

"Stop griping Donald, it's on our way to Hallow Bastion. Is everyone ready?" Leon asked.

Simultaneously everyone yelled, "Yeah, let's go!" They all headed towards their Gummi ships and launched into the depths of space once again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Hallow Bastion Maleficent was gazing in her crystal ball. Clayton came behind her and cleared his throat.

"Ma'am I have Hercules as requested."

"Good Clayton, now come here." Clayton walked over to Maleficent.

"Do you want power, Clayton?"

"Well..."

"Of course you do; we all would like a little or a lot of power-now I shall grant your wish. Step over there and it shall be done."

Clayton took a few steps back, not knowing what Maleficent had in store for him. Maleficent raised her staff and then slowly Clayton's soul was extracted form his body and placed into the orb on top of Maleficent's staff. Clayton started to transform into a soulless. His hair turned grey and mangled. His clothes turned black, and his skin and body decrepit and deformed. Then his face twisted and turned until it was misshapen, but still a bit distinguishable. His eyes rolled back into his head and the whites of his eyes turned into black.

Clayton stood there awaiting Maleficent's instructions. About 20 soulless entered the room and lined up in order. Maleficent then opened a portal in front of Clayton. "Now go, take these soulless with you and eliminate Sora and his allies. However, I want Cloud and Tarzan brought back here." Clayton grunted and walked through the portal along with the soulless.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora and his allies finally approached the deep jungle world after a few hours' travel. "Where can we land?" Donald scoped the landscape and looked for a place to land. After a few minutes of searching he finally found a small plateau that they could land on. "There!" Donald maneuvered the Gummi to land on the cliff and Leon followed. Then they landed safely on the plateau. When they got out Cloud walked over to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"I just contacted Tifa; she's somewhere due north of here."

"Well, le..." But Donald interrupted Sora.

"Wait! We should have someone stay behind to watch the gummi ships."

"I'll stay."

"Are you sure Cloud?"

"Yea, I'm sure."

"I'll stay behind too since I really can't trek through that deep jungle like you guys can, and I still need a bit more rest."

"Alright, well we'll see you both later."

"Alright, bye."

Everyone except Yuna and Cloud set off into the jungle. At first, they had alot of trouble walking through all the jungle. Vines here, plants there, brush here and there, it was a mess.

"God damn this brush is thick."

"We'll why don't you do something about it Yuffie?" Yuffie stopped a few seconds to think and then it struck her.

"Stand back everyone." Everyone stepped back as Yuffie pulled out her large Shuriken. She held it behind her back, about to thrust it forward. Then she let it loose on the ground. All of the brush and plants in the way were leveled as the Shuriken went past it. After a few minutes the Shuriken started to ascend and then do a back flip so it could return to its owner. It hurtled back towards Yuffie and she caught it. She sheathed it and started to walk forward. Everyone then followed and was thankful that Yuffie had made a makeshift path for them all. Every now and again they would wind up thick in brush again and Yuffie would use her Shuriken to make a path.

They didn't come across anything that dangerous; a few snakes here, some spiders there, nothing to be worried about. They kept walking and walking, but still seeing no trace of Tifa. "This is getting us nowhere, we've been walking for half an hour now and we have not seen one trace..." But Donald stopped as a rustling in the brush was heard. They looked over in the direction of the sound and for a few seconds a cluster of vines and brush were rustling. Everyone stood there, preparing themselves for the worst, when...

"Leon!" It was Tifa and Tarzan.

"Hey Tifa, how was training?"

"It was great. Tarzan here is just as good a sparring buddy as Cloud is, speaking of which; where is Cloud?"

"He's back guarding our Gummi ships."

"Oh, well anyways you guys needed me for something?"

"Yes we do, we're off to Hallow Bastion and require your assistance. An evil uprising has occurred there we don't know what we'll come up against over there, and we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Ah, well we should be heading out now. Thanks for helping me Tar..." A loud gunshot drowned out Tifa's words as everyone turned their heads in the direction that the sound came from. Then trees could be heard cracking and brush rustling. It got louder and louder still.

Tarzan jumped high in the trees. "Come, hurry!" Everyone started to scale the trees except for Yuffie, Donald, Goofy, and Leon. Yuffie picked up Goofy, Leon picked up Donald and they jumped from limb to limb upwards. While they were still climbing something below them went by at a very high velocity. Sora looked down and saw that everything within 10 ft of the ground was destroyed, except for the trees which some of the bark had just been damaged.

"Clayton..." Everyone looked at Tarzan in disbelief, and then Sora spoke.

"But...how? Clayton is...dead..."

Tarzan started to climb up the trees. He then motioned for everyone to follow him. They all started to climb, higher and higher they went. Gunshots and the destruction that came with them could be heard from below. Tarzan then jumped upon a large tree branch and started to slide down it. Everyone except Yuffie and Leon got on and slid down. Yuffie and Leon jumped from limb to limb, following Sora and the others. They kept descending and kept going further south. The gunshots grew louder and louder as they progressed southward.

After another half an hour or so they finally reached the ground. "It's so...quiet..." Everyone strained their ears. Not one gunshot could be heard.

"Shit! We forgot all about Yuna and Cloud!"

"Don't worry, Cloud can take care of anything that comes his way...wait...soulless...shit..." They all started to run as fast as they could towards the cliff where they parked their gummi ships. For a few minutes they ran without running into any opposition. After about five minutes of running they stopped as they saw three dark figures standing in-between the trees. The one in the middle stepped forward and stopped in a patch of light. His grotesque figure was finally revealed.

"It is Clayton..." Tarzan grinded his teeth and charged at Clayton.

"TARZAN! NO!" Cried Tifa. But Tarzan wouldn't listen, he just kept going. When he was just about a few yards away from Clayton, Tarzan lunged at Clayton with his spear. Just as Tarzan was about to strike Clayton, Clayton pulled back his arm, then flung it forward and struck Tarzan. Tarzan was sent flying and hit a tree with a violent impact. Blood was pouring from his mouth and he was struggling to get up.

Yuffie went over to him to tend to him.

"Tarzan, stay down. You need to reserve your strength. Please hold on Tarzan. Yuna will be able to heal you."

"Yuffie, take Tarzan to Yuna, quickly."

"But...how..?"

"The trees are your ally; use them to get over these freaks." Yuffie nodded, took Tarzan in her arms, and then leaped up into the trees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN'T LEAVE!!!!!!! I MUST HAVE YOUR SOULS!!!!!!" Clayton then aimed his gun at Yuffie and then pulled the trigger. The dark energy bullet raced out of the barrel at Yuffie and Tarzan. Leon jumped up and blocked the attack with his gunblade. Leon then countered with an attack from his gunblade. The attack hit Clayton dead on but it just sent him stumbling backwards a few feet. "Damn, he's stronger that I thought." Leon landed and saw that the other two black figures were coming closer. They were the same phantom cloaked figures that they saw in the first district, but somehow different. As they walked closer they started to transform. They grew ears, two sets of legs, and all the characteristics of a leopard. Once their transformation was complete one lunged at Leon while the other tackled Tifa.

Tifa tried to hold it off and Leon tried as well to fend his Soulless off. While all of this was happening Clayton was concentrating his fire on Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora dodged every assault while Donald and Goofy barely evaded them. Sora then decided to assault Clayton himself. He jumped off a tree, back flipped, extended his Soulblade, and started spinning in a 360 degree assault. Clayton stopped this easily by blocking the Soulblade with his rifle. Sora landed on the floor and then thrusted the Soulblade as hard as he could into Clayton's chest. Clayton was sent flying a few feet and landed on the ground. After a few seconds Clayton got up and aimed his rifle at Sora. Goofy then rammed into the side of Clayton with his shield. Clayton was knocked off his feet long enough for Donald to hit him hard with a gravity spell. Clayton layed there on the ground for a few minutes, but got up after a few seconds.

Sora stood there, poised to fight. Clayton aimed his gun and shot a barrage of dark energy bullets in his direction. Sora twirled the Soulblade in a circle to deflect all of the bullets, then charged towards Clayton. But instead of attacking head on, Sora veered left then raised the Soulblade and struck Clayton with immense force. Clayton was knocked off his feet and sent shooting like a rocket towards a tree. His side smashed into the tree and Clayton slide down it to reveal a gigantic dent in the tree. Clayton slumped over and didn't get up. The Soulblade shone a brightly and sent a bright light towards Clayton. His whole body returned to normal but it was too late for him.

Meanwhile, Yuffie and Leon were still struggling with the Soulless. Leon kept shooting it with his Gunblade but it had no effect, it was the same with Yuffie's Shuriken. Sora ran over to the Soulless Yuffie was fighting and attacked it. The Soulless in this form was very fast. Sora was barely able to keep up with it. The Soulless poised for attack and leaped at Sora then pinned him down. Yuffie threw her Shuriken and knocked it off of Sora. Then while the Soulless was down, Sora struck it a few times with the Soulblade and then the Soulless imploded. Then Sora ran over to Leon to help him. Leon was pinned down and struggling to get the Soulless off of him. Sora lunged at the Soulless and struck it a few times and it imploded. "Thanks." "You're welcome." "Now, quickly, we must get back to the gummi ships."

Everyone started to run towards the cliff where the gummi ships were parked. They kept running and running, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. As they finally reached the edge of the forest, they expected to see Cloud, Yuna, Yuffie, and Tarzan waiting there for them; however that was not what they found. Yuffie, lying on the ground along with Yuna unconscious. Then there was Tarzan, dead. "YUFFIE! YUNA! TARZAN!" Leon ran over to Yuffie and Yuna while Tifa ran to Tarzan. Sora just stood there, looking dazed.

"Yuffie and Yuna are alright, just knocked unconscious."

"Can't say the same for Tarzan...He's..."

"You don't need to say anything more Tifa...Wait...where's Cloud?" Everyone looked around but they saw no trace of Cloud anywhere.

"Damnit, GOD DAMNIT!!!!!!!" Leon punched his fist into the ground. Tifa walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulder. "Leon, it'll be O.K., Tarzan is a great loss yes, but at least we didn't lose Yuna or Yuffie."

"I-i-its n-not that simple Tifa. They were harmed and we weren't here to help them! I was unable to save them."

"Leon, its ok. You didn't know that Cloud and them were in trouble. It's not your fault. Now, I'm going to take Tarzan to Jane and the Doctor. To be safe I'm taking the gummi ship, there's a little pasture near the campsite that I can land in." Leon kneeled there and stared at the ground.

Tifa went over to Tarzan, picked him up in her arms, and then took him to the gummi ship. They took off and flew off into the distance. Sora turned to Leon and just stared at him. Leon turned his head and glared at Sora with a cold stare. Both of them kept staring at each other for another 15 minutes; the roaring of engines could be heard. Tifa was landing the ship back on the cliff. Tifa got out and looked as if she had been crying.

"Come on Leon, let's head off now." Leon looked at Tifa, then grabbed Yuffie and Yuna and boarded the ship.

"Come on Sora, we have to get goin'."

"Yeah." Sora stared at them both and boarded their ship.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Hollow Bastion Maleficent was gazing into her crystal ball once again.

"Hmm...Clayton has failed at destroying the child and his companions. No matter. They think precious Tarzan is dead and their poor Cloud is missing. Little do they know that I am in possession of them." Maleficent scowled and walked toward the door. Just then she heard a mechanical breathing from behind her. She turned around to see a figure standing in the crystal ball.

"What do you want?"

"Maleficent, do you have all of them yet?"

"No, but I have acquired 4 of them so far. These things take time you know."

"The master is growing impatient, and what of the child?" Maleficent glared at the figure in her crystal ball.

"He is headed on his way to Hollow Bastion. I and the other villains shall vanquish him when he arrives."

"No! Did you not hear me before; the master wants him alive, not dead! You are incompetent Maleficent; I shall take this matter into my own hands. My troops and I shall take his ship down and capture him and his companions ourselves." The figure faded and Maleficent was standing there with an angry expression on her face. She then raised her staff and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora was still being troubled by what happened at the Deep Jungle world. Why did Leon glare at him like that? Why did people keep dying? He didn't know. Then Aerith...Sora knew that it was not entirely his fault that she died but still, the fact that he savagely beat her like that was unbearable. Sora knew that Leon would never let that go-the memory would stay with him until he died. Sora lowered his head and tears started to flow from his eyes. Goofy looked back at Sora and noticed this.

"Sora? You o.k.?" Sora was startled by this and wiped his tears away quickly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm...fine." Goofy looked at Sora in disbelief.

"Sora, now come on. I know something's wrong. Is it Tarzan? Look that wasn't your fault Sora. We did our best to get back to them on time. These soulless are just too powerful for us to take on. Once Yuna gets the soul gems we will be strong enough to take on the soulless." Sora didn't respond, but instead stared off into the abyss that was space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
